Server, electronic device, and electronic device information providing method

ABSTRACT

Various examples of the present invention provide a server for providing information of an electronic device, and the server can comprise: a communication unit for receiving, from at least one first electronic device, at least one piece of information of the first electronic device; and a control unit for determining, from the received information, a current state among a plurality of states preset for the first electronic device, and controlling the first electronic device such that state prediction information of the first electronic device is transmitted to a second electronic device if the determined current state satisfies a preset notification condition on a state diagram in which a relationship among the plurality of states is set. Additionally, other examples could be possible besides the various examples of the present invention.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/565,019 filed on Oct. 6, 2017, which is a national stage ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/KR2016/003128 filed on Mar. 28,2016, entitled “SERVER, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICEINFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD”, claiming priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2015-0049160 filed on Apr. 7, 2015, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a server, anelectronic device, and a method for providing information in anelectronic device.

Description of the Related Art

Generally, electronic devices refer to devices that perform particularfunctions based on embedded programs, such as home appliances,electronic notes, portable multimedia players (PMPs), and mobilecommunication terminals, tablet personal computers (PCs), video/audiodevices, desktop/laptop computers, vehicle navigation systems, and soforth. For example, these electronic devices may output storedinformation in the form of sound, images, and so forth. With theincreasing integration of electronic devices and the common use ofultra-high-speed and large-volume wireless communication, variousfunctions have been recently provided through a single mobilecommunication terminal.

For example, an entertainment function such as games, a multimediafunction such as music/video playback, a communication and securityfunction for mobile banking, and a function such as schedule management,electronic wallets, or the like, as well as a communication functionhave been integrated into a single electronic device.

In addition, the electronic device may be provided with various servicesfrom another electronic device or a server through a communicationfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As the number of peripheral Internet of Things (IoT) devices of a userincreases, the number of tasks which the user needs to manage for eachIoT device may also increase. For example, upon occurrence of aparticular event in each IoT device, the event has to be notified to anelectronic device of the user to allow the user to take an action on theevent.

However, if only a result is notified to the user after a problem occursin various IoT devices, the user may only take a post action on theproblem, such that the action may not be proper and the user may feelinconvenience.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a server, anelectronic device, and a method for providing information in anelectronic device, in which various problematic situations of variousperipheral IoT devices managed by the electronic device are notified toa user in advance before occurrence of the situations, therebypreventing various malfunctions or allowing the user to take a prioraction.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a server, anelectronic device, and a method for providing information in anelectronic device, in which information collected from variousperipheral IoT devices managed by the electronic device is analyzed andset as a state diagram indicating connection relationships among aplurality of states, and if a current state corresponds to a presetparticular state on the state diagram, various problematic situationsare notified to the user in advance before the situations occur, therebypreventing various malfunctions or allowing the user to take a prioraction.

A server for providing information of an electronic device according toan embodiment to solve the foregoing or other problems includes acommunicator configured to receive at least one information of at leastone first electronic device from the at least one first electronicdevice and a controller configured to determine, from the receivedinformation, a current state among a plurality of states that are presetfor the first electronic device and to transmit state expectationinformation of the first electronic device to a second electronic deviceif the determined current state satisfies a preset notificationcondition on a state diagram in which relationships between theplurality of states are set.

A method for providing information of an electronic device at a serveraccording to any one of various embodiments of the present disclosureincludes receiving at least one information of at least one firstelectronic device from the at least one first electronic device,determining, from the received information, a current state among aplurality of states that are preset for the first electronic device, andtransmitting state expectation information of the first electronicdevice to a second electronic device if the determined current statesatisfies a preset notification condition on a state diagram in whichrelationships between the plurality of states are set.

An electronic device according to any one of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure includes a communicator configured to receive atleast one information of at least one first electronic device from theat least one first electronic device, a storage configured to storeinformation about a plurality of states of the first electronic device,and a controller configured to determine, from the information receivedthrough the communicator, a current state among a plurality of statespreset for the first electronic device and to output state expectationinformation of the first electronic device if the determined currentstate satisfies a preset notification condition on a state diagram inwhich relationships between the plurality of states are set.

A method for providing information about at least one registeredperipheral electronic device in an electronic device according to anyone of various embodiments of the present disclosure includes receivingat least one information of at least one first electronic device fromthe at least one first electronic device, determining, from the receivedinformation, a current state among a plurality of states preset for thefirst electronic device, and outputting state expectation information ofthe first electronic device if the determined current state satisfies apreset notification condition on a state diagram in which relationshipsbetween the plurality of states are set.

With an electronic device and a method for providing information of anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, a probable abnormal situation or problem is expected basedon information received from various peripheral electronic devices(e.g., IoT devices) registered in the electronic device, and acorresponding notification message is provided, allowing a user to takea proper prior action.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an IoT network configuration accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a network configuration according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an information providing procedure in anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a signal flow between devices for providing informationaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example of a detailed structure of aserver or an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure [19] FIG. 6 is a state diagram that is set for awearable device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a state diagram that is set for a TV according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a state diagram that is set for an illumination deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a state diagram that is set for a smart phone according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of a wearable device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure; [24] FIG. 11 shows a list of registered IoT devicesaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of a wearable device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 13 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of a TV according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 14 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of an illumination device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a detailed structure of an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a programming module according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will bedisclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, thedescription is not intended to limit the present disclosure toparticular embodiments, and it should be construed as including variousmodifications, equivalents, and/or alternatives according to theembodiments of the present disclosure. In regard to the description ofthe drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements.

In the present disclosure, an expression such as “having,” “may have,”“comprising,” or “may comprise” indicates existence of a correspondingcharacteristic (e.g., a numerical value, a function, an operation, or anelement like a part) and does not exclude existence of additionalcharacteristic.

In the present disclosure, an expression such as “A or B,” “at least oneof A or/and B,” or “one or more of A or/and B” may include all possiblecombinations of together listed items. For example, “A or B,” “at leastone of A and B,” or “one or more of A or B” may indicate the entire of(1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3)including both at least one A and at least one B.

Expressions such as “first,” “second,” “primarily,” or “secondary,” usedin various embodiments may represent various elements regardless oforder and/or importance and do not limit corresponding elements. Theexpressions may be used for distinguishing one element from anotherelement. For example, a first user device and a second user device mayrepresent different user devices regardless of order or importance. Forexample, a first element may be named as a second element withoutdeparting from the right scope of the various exemplary embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and similarly, a second element may be named asa first element.

When it is described that an element (such as a first element) is“operatively or communicatively coupled with/to” or “connected” toanother element (such as a second element), the element can be directlyconnected to the other element or can be connected to the other elementthrough another element (e.g., a third element). However, when it isdescribed that an element (such as a first element) is “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element (such as a secondelement), it means that there is no intermediate element (such as athird element) between the element and the other element.

An expression “configured to (or set)” used in the present disclosuremay be replaced with, for example, “suitable for,” “having the capacityto,” “designed to,” “adapted to,” “made to,” or “capable of” accordingto a situation. A term “configured to (or set)” does not always meanonly “specifically designed to” by hardware. Alternatively, in somesituation, an expression “apparatus configured to” may mean that theapparatus “can” operate together with another apparatus or component.For example, a phrase “a processor configured (or set) to perform A, B,and C” may be a dedicated processor (e.g., an embedded processor) forperforming a corresponding operation or a generic-purpose processor(such as a CPU or an application processor) that can perform acorresponding operation by executing at least one software programstored at a memory device.

Terms defined in the present disclosure are used for only describing aspecific exemplary embodiment and may not have an intention to limit thescope of other exemplary embodiments. The singular forms are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. All of the terms used herein including technical orscientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood byan ordinary skilled person in the related art. The terms defined in agenerally used dictionary should be interpreted as having meanings thatare the same as or similar with the contextual meanings of the relevanttechnology and should not be interpreted as having ideal or exaggeratedmeanings unless they are clearly defined in the various exemplaryembodiments. In some case, terms defined in the present disclosurecannot be analyzed to exclude the present exemplary embodiments.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include at least one of a smartphone, a tablet personalcomputer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an electronic book(e-book) reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, aworkstation server, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portablemultimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, a mobile medical appliance, acamera, and a wearable device (e.g., smart glasses, ahead-mounted-device (HMD), electronic clothes, an electronic bracelet,an electronic necklace, an electronic appcessory, electronic tattoos, asmart mirror, or a smart watch).

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may be a smart homeappliance. The home appliance may include, for example, a television(TV), a Digital Video Disk (DVD) player, audio equipment, arefrigerator, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, a microwaveoven, a laundry machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a homeautomation control panel, a security control panel, a TV box (e.g.,HomeSync™ of Samsung, TV™ of Apple, or TV™ of Google), a game console,an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, a camcorder, and anelectronic frame.

According to other embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may include at least one of various medical equipment (forexample, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), an imaging device, or anultrasonic device), a navigation system, a global positioning system(GPS) receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder(FDR), a vehicle infotainment device, electronic equipment for ships(e.g., a navigation system and gyro compass for ships), avionics, asecurity device, a vehicle head unit, an industrial or home robot, anautomatic teller's machine (ATM), a Point of Sales (POS), Internet ofthings (e.g., electric bulbs, various sensors, electricity or gasmeters, sprinkler devices, fire alarm devices, thermostats,streetlights, toasters, exercise machines, hot-water tanks, heaters,boilers, and so forth).

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may include a partof a furniture or building/structure, an electronic board, an electronicsignature receiving device, a projector, and various measuringinstruments (e.g., a water, electricity, gas, electric wave measuringdevice, etc.). The electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be one of the above-listed devices or acombination thereof. The electronic device according to some embodimentsmay be a flexible electronic device. The electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to theabove-listed devices and may include new electronic devices according totechnical development.

An electronic device used in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure to be described below may mean an Internet of Things (IoT)device, or may be an electronic device (e.g., a smart phone) thatoutputs expected-state information determined from information receivedfrom various IoT devices. While an IoT device has been described as anexample of peripheral electronic devices that provide various stateinformation, various embodiments of the present disclosure are notlimited to the IoT device, and any type of an electronic device capableof transmitting its various state information through wired/wirelesscommunication means may be included in the present disclosure.

Moreover, in various embodiments of the present disclosure, a “statediagram” is information indicating relationships among a plurality ofstates that are set for each electronic device (e.g., an IoT device),and may include a condition for transition (or switchover) betweenstates. Furthermore, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the transition condition between the states may include timeinformation.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure to be described, an“expected state” may mean a state in which transition is expected if acurrent state on the state diagram satisfies a preset transitioncondition (e.g., the elapse of a preset time) for each electronic device(e.g., an IoT device). For example, the expected state may include atleast one state in which transition is possible in the current state onthe state diagram.

More specifically, when a first state and a second state are defined onthe state diagram and a transition condition for transition from thefirst state to the second state is set, if a current state correspondingto information received from the electronic device is the first state,then the second state may be referred to as an expected state.

Moreover, in various embodiments of the present disclosure describedbelow, expected state-related information may be provided in variousforms through the electronic device. For example, in various embodimentsof the present disclosure, the expected state-related information may beprovided in the form of at least one of a text, an image, a movingimage, a signal, a sound, and vibration or a combination of at least oneof them. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theexpected state-related information may be provided in the form of astate diagram including a relationship between the current state and theexpected state.

Furthermore, in various embodiments of the present disclosure to bedescribed, the expected state-related information may be provided if thecurrent state satisfies a preset ‘notification condition’. For example,if an expected state corresponding to the current state on the statediagram is a malfunctioning or abnormal state, this matter may benotified in advance in the current state. Thus, the notificationcondition may be set to a case where the expected state corresponding tothe current state, which is determined from the received information, isa malfunctioning or abnormal state. Moreover, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, it is determined that thenotification condition is satisfied if information received from eachelectronic device corresponds to a particular state on the statediagram, and information related to the current state, informationrelated to the expected state corresponding to the current state, orstate diagram information including a plurality of states and atransition condition may be displayed.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an IoT network configuration accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure. Todays, thingscommunication has expanded its era from the machine-to-machine (M2M)concept of intelligent communication between a human and a thing andbetween things over a mobile communication network to Internet, rapidlyevolving to the concept of interacting with any information in realityand virtuality as well as machines. That is, M2M which enablesintelligent communication between a human and a thing and between thingsin real time in a safe and convenient way anytime and anywhere isexpanding its era to IoT by connecting nearby any things over theInternet.

IoT refers to a technology for connecting various machines to Internetby embedding a sensor and a communication function in the machines.Herein, the machines may include various embedded systems (a computersystem of an electronic device such as a smart phone) such as a homeappliance, a mobile device, a wearable computer, etc. Machines connectedto IoT devices may include identifiers (IDs) for identifying themselves.For example, an IoT device may be connected to Internet at a particularInternet Protocol (IP) address, and may include a sensor to obtaininformation from an external environment.

An example of an IoT-applied network is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1illustrates an IoT network. Referring to FIG. 1, an IoT network 100 mayinclude a smart light emitting diode (LED) 10, a thermometer 20, alaundry machine 30, a smart refrigerator 40, a cleaning robot 50, asmart television (TV) 60, a digital camera 70, a smart phone 80, and awearable device 90.

Such devices of the IoT network 100 may be classified into small things110 that have relatively simple unique functions and thus hardware forproviding IoT services is also implemented in small sizes, such as thesmart LED 10 and the thermometer 20, big things 120 having no displaysuch as the laundry machine 30, the smart refrigerator 40, and thecleaning robot 50, and big things 130 having displays such as the smartTV 60, the digital camera 70, the smart phone 80, and the wearabledevice 90.

Each device may transmit and receive data (e.g., packet-type data)including sensor data measured through a sensor provided therein orinformation collected by the device, and thus the information may becollected by a particular device, e.g., the smart phone 80, and providedto a user. The information may also be provided to an external serviceserver to provide a service including the information. For example, anindoor temperature measured by the thermometer 20 may be transmitted tothe smart phone 80 and the user may read the indoor temperature toadjust the indoor temperature.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, informationtransmitted from each IoT device (e.g., information of the IoT device)may be transmitted to a server which then analyzes the transmittedinformation and determines a current state or an expected state of theIoT device. Information related to the current state and/or the expectedstate determined by the server is transmitted to the smart phone 80,etc., allowing the user to identify the current state and/or theexpected state of the IoT device. For example, the user may identify thecurrent state and/or the expected state to take a prior action beforeabnormality occurs in each IoT device.

Each device of the IoT network 100 may operate as a node, and devicessuch as the smart TV 60, the digital camera 70, the smart phone 80, thewearable device 90, etc., may be designated as sync nodes collectinginformation of other node devices.

Although the IoT network including a plurality of IoT devices has beendescribed as an example with reference to FIG. 1, various embodiments ofthe present disclosure are not limited to an IoT device or an IoTnetwork and any electronic device capable of communication betweendevices may be included in the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a network configuration according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2, anetwork according to various embodiments of the present disclosure mayinclude a server 210, a communication network 220, an electronic device230, and at least one IoT device 240. The IoT device 240 is used as anexample to help understanding of the present disclosure, and is notlimited to an electronic device of a particular type. For example, theIoT device 240 may be any electronic device including a wired orwireless communication function. The IoT device 240 may be referred toas a first electronic device, and the electronic device 230 may bereferred to as a second electronic device. The server 210 may bereferred to as a knowledge-based intelligent personal assistant (IPA)server, but a server according to embodiments of the present disclosureis not limited to a server having a particular name.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, each IoTdevice 240 transmits at least one information to the server 210, Theserver 210 identifies information transmitted from each IoT device anddetermines a state among a plurality of states on a preset state diagramto which a current state corresponds. If there is notificationinformation configured in advance for the determined current state (orthe determined current state satisfies a preset notification condition),the server 210 transmits the notification information to the electronicdevice 230 through the communication network 220. The electronic device230 outputs notification information received from the server 210 invarious forms (e.g., a text, an image, sound, vibration, etc.), therebynotifying the user of a current state and/or an expected state of acorresponding IoT device. According to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the electronic device 230 displays the current stateand the expected state of the IoT device in the form of a state diagram.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, each IoTdevice 240 transmits its information (e.g., state-related information)to the electronic device 230. The electronic device 230 identifiesinformation transmitted from each IoT device and determines a stateamong a plurality of preset states on a state diagram to which a currentstate corresponds. If there is notification information configured inadvance for the determined current state, the electronic device 230outputs the notification information in various forms (e.g., a text, animage, sound, vibration, etc.), thereby notifying the user of a currentstate and/or an expected state of a corresponding IoT device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the server210 or the electronic device 230 cumulatively stores informationreceived from each IoT device 240 for a predetermined period, analyzesthe stored information to define a plurality of states, and setsrelationships between the plurality of states to generate a statediagram. Detailed embodiments thereof will be described later.

The communication network 220 provides communication between the server210, the electronic device 230, or the IoT device 240. For example, thecommunication network 220 may include at least one of Wireless Fidelity(WiFi), Bluetooth (BT), near field communication (NFC), a globalpositioning system (GPS), and cellular communication (e.g., Long TermEvolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), a Universal Mobile TelecommunicationSystem (UMTS), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), or a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM)). The wired communication may include, for example,at least one of a universal serial bus (USB), a high-definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI), RS-232, and a plain old telephone service(POTS).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device 230 may receive various information from the IoTdevice 240. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the IoT device 240 may be any one of a wireless tag, an IoT device, anda beacon transmitter that are capable of providing information throughshort-range wireless communication.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a detailed description will bemade of information providing procedures in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an information providing procedure in anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 310, an electronic devicereceives information (e.g., state-related information) from each IoTdevice. In operation 320, the electronic device having received theinformation from the IoT device analyzes the received information. Inoperation 330, the electronic device determines a state among aplurality of states preset for the particular IoT device to which thecurrent state corresponds, based on the analysis result.

If the determined current state satisfies a preset notificationcondition or there is notification information to be outputcorresponding to the determined current state in operation 340, theelectronic device outputs configured notification information in variousways in operation 350. For example, the notification information mayinclude information about a current state and/or an expected state andinformation including the current state and/or the expected state in theform of a state diagram.

At least one of the operations of FIG. 3 may be omitted and at least oneother operation may be added between the operations of FIG. 3. Inaddition, the operations of FIG. 3 may be processed in an illustratedorder, and an execution order of at least one operation may be exchangedwith that of another operation.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method forproviding information about at least one registered peripheralelectronic device in an electronic device includes receiving at leastone information of at least one first electronic device from the atleast one first electronic device, determining, from the receivedinformation, a current state among a plurality of states preset for thefirst electronic device, and outputting state expectation information ofthe first electronic device if the determined current state satisfies apreset notification condition on a state diagram in which relationshipsbetween the plurality of states are set.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a presetstate transition condition may be set between at least two states amongthe plurality of states on the state diagram.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include at least oneexpected-state information about an expected state to which transitionfrom a current state is expected for the first electronic device andexpected time information about an expected time required to maketransition to the expected state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include informationrelated to prevention corresponding to abnormality information expectedin the first electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include at least one ofinformation related to battery discharging, information related to soundoutput, information related to light out, information related to anavigator, and information related to transition to a power saving mode.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the settingof the relationships between the plurality of states may be performed byanalyzing a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern of a user from theinformation received from the at least one first electronic device.

FIG. 4 is a signal flow between devices for providing informationaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 4, in operation 402, each IoT device 240 transmits its information(e.g., information related to its state) to the server 210, if a presetcondition is satisfied, or periodically.

In operation 404, the server 210 extracts available data from theinformation transmitted from the IoT device 240 and classifies theextracted data. In operation 406, the server 210 analyzes an IoT deviceuse pattern of a user from the extracted and classified data. Forexample, the server 210 may analyze a life cycle corresponding to a usepattern for each user. In operation 408, the server 210 generates, basedon the analysis result, a state diagram in which relationships among aplurality of states are set for the IoT device 240. For example,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, if theinformation received from the IoT device 240 has a particular value, theIoT device 240 may be configured to correspond to one of the pluralityof preset states.

In operation 410, the IoT device 240 transmits its state information tothe server 210 in real time, if a preset condition is satisfied, orperiodically. In operation 412, the server 210 determines the currentstate by analyzing information transmitted in real time from the IoTdevice 240. If the current state determined from the informationreceived from the IoT device 240 corresponds to one of a plurality ofstates included in the generated state diagram, the server 210determines at least one of the plurality of states to which the currentstate may make transition as an expected state. For example, the server210 may determine, based on the received information, a state among theplurality of preset states to which the current state corresponds, anddetermine whether there is notification information that is configuredcorresponding to the determined current state. For example, the server210 determines whether a preset notification condition is satisfiedbased on the analyzed current state in operation 414, and transmitsconfigured notification information corresponding to the analyzedcurrent state to the electronic device 230 in operation 416.

In operation 418, the electronic device 230 outputs the notificationinformation transmitted from the server 210 using various output means(e.g., a display unit (such as a touch screen), a speaker, a vibrationmotor, an LED, etc.). As mentioned above, the notification informationmay include information about a current state and/or an expected stateand may be displayed on a screen in the form of a state diagramincluding a relationship between the current state and the expectedstate.

At least one of the operations of FIG. 4 may be omitted and at least oneother operation may be added between the operations of FIG. 4. Inaddition, the operations of FIG. 4 may be processed in an illustratedorder, and an execution order of at least one operation may be exchangedwith that of another operation.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method forproviding information of an electronic device at a server includesreceiving at least one information of at least one first electronicdevice from the at least one first electronic device, determining, fromthe received information, a current state among a plurality of statesthat are preset for the first electronic device, and transmitting stateexpectation information of the first electronic device to a secondelectronic device if the determined current state satisfies a presetnotification condition on a state diagram in which relationships betweenthe plurality of states are set.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a presetstate transition condition may be set between at least two states amongthe plurality of states on the state diagram.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude at least one expected-state information about an expected stateto which transition from a current state is expected for the firstelectronic device and expected time information about an expected timerequired to make transition to the expected state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude information related to prevention corresponding to abnormalityinformation expected in the first electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude at least one of information related to battery discharging,information related to sound output, information related to light out,information related to a navigator, and information related totransition to a power saving mode.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the settingof the relationships between the plurality of states may be performed byanalyzing a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern of a user from theinformation received from the at least one first electronic device.

Hereinbelow, a detailed description will be made of an example of adetailed structure of the server or the electronic device with referenceto FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example of a detailed structure of aserver or an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In the following description, the example shown inFIG. 5 is an electronic device, and according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, at least one of functional units shown in FIG. 5may be implemented as being included in a server.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electronic device 500 according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may include a communicator 510, acontroller 520, and a storage 530.

The controller 520 may include at least one of an IoT data collector521, a feature information extractor 522, an information analyzer 523, astate diagram generator 524, a current state determiner 525, and anotification message generator 526. The storage 530 may include at leastone of IoT type information 531, device-specific feature information532, retention device information 533, environment information 534,state diagram information 535, use pattern information 536, andnotification condition information 537.

The communicator 510 receives information from at least one IoT device.The IoT data collector 521 of the controller 520 collects informationfrom each IoT device, received through the communicator 510. Collectionof information from each IoT device may be performed by requesting andcollecting the information from an IoT device connected to or registeredin the electronic device 500 or by collecting the information from eachIoT device periodically. If a preset particular condition is satisfied,each IoT device may transmit information related to the current state tothe electronic device 500.

The feature information extractor 522 extracts feature information fromthe information collected by the IoT data collector 521. For example,the information received from the IoT device may include various typesof signals or data from which information used for determining thecurrent state may be extracted as feature information. By analyzing thereceived various types of signals of data, information corresponding toa particular state of the IoT device may be extracted as featureinformation.

The information analyzer 523 analyzes the feature information extractedby the feature information extractor 522 to analyze a use pattern of theIoT device. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the use pattern of the IoT device may differ from user to user, suchthat the use pattern may be analyzed for each user registered for thesame IoT device. For example, a life cycle corresponding to the usepattern may be analyzed for each user.

The state diagram generator 524 generates a state diagram including aplurality of states and information about a transition condition betweenstates, by using the life cycle corresponding to the use patternanalyzed by the information analyzer 523. For example, the generatedstate diagram may have forms illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 9. The statediagram shows a state transition relationship corresponding to the useof each IoT device based on the analyzed use pattern, and the statediagram may further include transition condition information betweenstates (e.g., information about a time needed for state transitiondetermined based on a life cycle). For example, if satisfying a presettransition condition, a current state determined for an arbitrary IoTdevice may make transition to a next expected state that is set on thestate diagram. According to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, if at least one expected state connected with the currentstate corresponds to a malfunctioning state or an abnormal state, anelectronic device of a user may notify information related to theexpected state or information related to a transition condition to theuser in advance before the current state makes transition to theexpected state. According to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, whether to perform notification in the current state ornotification related to the expected state may be preset together with astate diagram.

The current state determiner 525 determines a state among a plurality ofstates set by the state diagram generator 524 to which informationreceived from an arbitrary IoT device corresponds.

The notification message generator 526 identifies the state determinedby the current state determiner 525, and if there is a notificationmessage preset corresponding to the identified state, the notificationmessage generator 526 outputs the notification message through theelectronic device 500. The electronic device 500 may further includevarious output means (e.g., a display unit, a speaker, a vibrationmotor, an LED, etc.) capable of outputting the notification message asstated above.

The IoT type information 531 stored in the storage 530 may include typeinformation of at least one IoT device registered in advance in theelectronic device 500. For example, the IoT type information 531 mayinclude a product name, a device identification number, a type, amanufacturing company, etc., of each IoT device. The device-specificfeature information 532 may include information such as a lifespan, aspecification, a capacity, a replacement cycle, etc., of a device.

The retention device information 533 may include information about anIoT device registered by a particular user. For example, the retentiondevice information 533 may be displayed on a screen in the form of alist as shown in FIG. 11. The environment information 534 may includevarious environment information of a place where each IoT device isused.

The state diagram information 535 may include at least one states andinformation related to transition between states, which are generated bythe state diagram generator 524. For example, the state diagraminformation 535 may include information in the forms illustrated inFIGS. 6 through 9.

The use pattern information 536 may include use pattern information ofeach user for an IoT device, analyzed by the information analyzer 523.The notification condition information 537 may include notificationinformation that is preset corresponding to each state. The notificationinformation may be provided on a screen of an electronic device in formsshown in FIGS. 9 through 15.

While the electronic device is illustrated as independently operating initself in FIG. 5, the electronic device may be implemented to perform atleast some of functions according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure by communicating with an external electronic device or aserver through the communicator. For example, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the server may support driving ofthe electronic device by performing at least one of operations (orfunctions) implemented in the electronic device. Thus, the server mayinclude at least some of elements of the controller 520 implemented inthe electronic device and may perform (or substitute for) at least oneof operations (or functions) performed by the controller 520.

Meanwhile, in various embodiments of the present disclosure, eachfunctional unit or module may mean a functional and structuralcombination of hardware for performing the technical spirit of variousembodiments of the present disclosure and software for driving thehardware. For example, it may be easily construed by those of ordinaryskill in the art that each functional unit or module may mean a logicalunit of a predetermined code and a hardware resource for executing thepredetermined code, and does not necessarily mean a physically connectedcode or one type of hardware.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device includes a communicator configured to receive at leastone information of at least one first electronic device from the atleast one first electronic device, a storage configured to storeinformation about a plurality of states of the first electronic device,and a controller configured to determine, from the information receivedthrough the communicator, a current state among a plurality of statespreset for the first electronic device and to output state expectationinformation of the first electronic device if the determined currentstate satisfies a preset notification condition on a state diagram inwhich relationships between the plurality of states are set.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a presetstate transition condition may be set between at least two states amongthe plurality of states on the state diagram.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include at least oneexpected-state information about an expected state to which transitionfrom a current state is expected for the first electronic device andexpected time information about an expected time required to maketransition to the expected state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include informationrelated to prevention corresponding to abnormality information expectedin the first electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransmitted state expectation information may include at least one ofinformation related to battery discharging, information related to soundoutput, information related to light out, information related to anavigator, and information related to transition to a power saving mode.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the settingof the relationships between the plurality of states may be performed byanalyzing a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern of a user from theinformation received from the at least one first electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a server forproviding information of an electronic device includes a communicatorconfigured to receive at least one information of at least one firstelectronic device from the at least one first electronic device and acontroller configured to determine, from the received information, acurrent state among a plurality of states that are preset for the firstelectronic device and to transmit state expectation information of thefirst electronic device to a second electronic device if the determinedcurrent state satisfies a preset notification condition on a statediagram in which relationships between the plurality of states are set.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a presetstate transition condition may be set between at least two states amongthe plurality of states on the state diagram.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude at least one expected-state information about an expected stateto which transition from a current state is expected for the firstelectronic device and expected time information about an expected timerequired to make transition to the expected state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude information related to prevention corresponding to abnormalityinformation expected in the first electronic device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the stateexpectation information transmitted to the second electronic device mayinclude at least one of information related to battery discharging,information related to sound output, information related to light out,information related to a navigator, and information related totransition to a power saving mode.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the settingof the relationships between the plurality of states may be performed byanalyzing a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern of a user from theinformation received from the at least one first electronic device.

Hereinbelow, a description will be made of a state where a state diagramfor expected states according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is displayed on a screen.

FIG. 6 is a state diagram that is set for a wearable device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6,information received from a wearable device may include informationabout a battery. If a battery state of the wearable device is a presetlevel (e.g., a remaining capacity of 10%), a current state may bedetermined as a “Gear Fit Low Battery” state. The current state maycorrespond to one of a plurality of preset states determined by analysisof a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern. For example, accordingto the state diagram displayed on the screen in FIG. 6, an expectedstate corresponding to the current state is a state in which an IoTdevice (e.g., the wearable device) is expected to be discharged afterone hour. That is, if one hour elapses during which the wearable deviceis continuously used in the current state, transition to a “BTDischarged” state may be expected.

Thus, in the state, a notification message indicating that dischargingis expected after one hour may be provided through the electronicdevice. In addition, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, as shown in FIG. 6, the current state (e.g., Gear Fit LowBattery), the expected state (e.g., BT Discharged), a condition fortransition from the current state to the expected state (e.g., theelapse of one hour), etc., may be displayed on a screen in the form of astate diagram.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,determination of the state and the transition condition from the currentstate to the expected state may be generated as a result of analysis ofa life cycle corresponding to a use pattern based on informationcollected from each IoT device as described above.

FIG. 7 is a state diagram that is set for a TV according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 7, a statediagram including a current state, an expected state, and transitioninformation between states as shown in FIG. 7 may be displayed on ascreen by analyzing information collected from a TV.

For example, if it is determined as a result of analysis of theinformation received from the TV that there is no sound intermittently,the current state is determined as a “Intermittent Sound Out” stateamong a plurality of preset states. Based on a state diagram determinedbased on analysis of a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern, it maybe expected that the current state may make transition to a “No Sound”state where no sound is output after one week.

If one week elapses from the expected state “No Sound”, then the statemay be such that a main board needs to be replaced. After a sound cableis replaced in the expected state “No Sound”, if the state makestransition to an expected state where noise is output, then an expectedstate may be such that the main board needs to be replaced after twodays.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the currentstate is determined as a particular state on the state diagram based onthe information received from the TV, and a preset notification messageis output through the electronic device based on a preset transitioncondition in the determined current state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,determination of the state and the transition condition between statesmay be generated as a result of analysis of a life cycle correspondingto a use pattern based on information collected from each IoT device asdescribed above.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram that is set for an illumination deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 8, by analyzing information collected from an illumination device(e.g., a light bulb, an LED, a fluorescent light, etc.), a state diagramincluding transition information between states as shown in FIG. 8 maybe displayed on a screen.

For example, if the current state is determined in which the light bulbruns out, as a result of analysis of the information received from theillumination device, then the current state corresponds to a “LightBulb: Runs Out” state. among a plurality of preset states, and may beexpected to make transition to a “Light Out” state where theillumination device is not turned on at all after three weeks, based onanalysis of a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the currentstate is determined as a particular state on the state diagram based onthe information received from the illumination device, and a presetnotification message is output through the electronic device based on acondition for future transition from the current state.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,determination of the state and the transition condition between statesmay be generated as a result of analysis of a life cycle correspondingto a use pattern based on information collected from each IoT device asdescribed above.

FIG. 9 is a state diagram that is set for a smart phone according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 9, astate diagram including transition information between states as shownin FIG. 9 may be displayed on a screen by analyzing informationcollected from a smart phone. According to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, an electronic device may analyze informationcollected from the smart phone and output a notification message, or thesmart phone as an electronic device may analyze its information andoutput a notification message.

For example, if it is determined from GPS information of the electronicdevice that the user moves to a new place during three hours, then thecurrent state may be determined as a “New Place” state among a pluralityof states included in a preset state diagram. In the “New Place” state,a state is expected where the user may use a navigator for the nextthree hours to go back home.

For example, if the user plays game after one hour from the expectedstate, a state is expected where the user may not be able to use thenavigator after one hour. Thus, in a “Play Game” state, transition to anenergy-saving mode is performed to enable the user to use the navigatorfor three hours.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the currentstate is determined as a particular state on the state diagram based onthe information received from the smart phone, and a preset notificationmessage is output through the electronic device based on a condition forfuture transition from the current state, or setting of the electronicdevice (e.g., the energy-saving mode, etc.) may be forcedly changed.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,determination of the current state and the transition condition betweenstates may be generated as a result of analysis of a life cyclecorresponding to a use pattern based on information collected from eachIoT device as described above.

Hereinafter, a description will be made of various examples where anotification message is output through an electronic device according toan expected state and satisfaction with a notification condition withreference to FIGS. 10 through 15.

FIG. 10 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of a wearable device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 10, as a result of analysis ofinformation collected from a wearable device 1020, a current state ofthe wearable device 1020 may be determined from a table 1030corresponding to a state diagram. For example, it can be seen from thetable 1030 that, if the state of the wearable device 1020 is “LowBattery”, the expected state corresponds to a “Discharged after OneHour” state in the state diagram. In addition, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, if a notification message is setto be output for the current state, then an electronic device 1000 mayoutput a message related to the expected state, such as “Your Gear NeedsCharging Within One Hour”, through a display unit 1010.

FIG. 11 shows a list of registered IoT devices according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 11, the userregisters and manages at least one IoT devices in an electronic device1110.

The at least one IoT devices registered in the electronic device 1110may be displayed on a screen in the form of a list as shown in FIG. 11,and the user may set activation of each IoT device on the list. Forexample, if a particular IoT device is activated on the list, anotification message corresponding to a current state analyzed frominformation received from the IoT device may be output. However, even ifa particular IoT device is registered, a notification message may not beoutput when the IoT device is deactivated.

The list of IoT devices may be displayed in the form of an image, like ascreen 1120 shown in the right side of FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 shows notification information corresponding to an expectedstate of a wearable device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 12, if a registered IoT device isa wearable device, battery information may be received from the wearabledevice. If the received battery information of the wearable devicecorresponds to a particular state among a plurality of states includedin a preset state diagram and notification information is configured inrelation to an expected state corresponding to the current state, thennotification information regarding the expected state may be displayedon a screen of an electronic device 1200 as shown in FIG. 12. Forexample, a notification message such as “Your Gear is Expected to beDischarged After One Hour. Charging is Needed.” may be output.

FIG. 13 shows an expected information notification screen configuredcorresponding to a current state of a TV according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 13, if aregistered IoT device is a TV, information related to sound output maybe received from the TV. If the received sound output information of theTV corresponds to a particular state among a plurality of statesincluded in a preset state diagram and notification information isconfigured in relation to an expected state corresponding to the currentstate, then notification information regarding the expected state may bedisplayed on a screen of an electronic device 1300 as shown in FIG. 13.For example, a notification message such as “Problem Occurs in TV SoundOutput. Check for Main Board is Needed Within One Week” may be output.

FIG. 14 shows an expected information notification screen correspondingto a current state of an illumination device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 14, if aregistered IoT device is an illumination device of a living room,illumination-related information may be received from the illuminationdevice. If the received illumination-related device corresponds to aparticular state among a plurality of states included in a preset statediagram and notification information is configured in relation to anexpected state corresponding to the current state, then notificationinformation regarding the expected state may be displayed on a screen ofan electronic device 1400 as shown in FIG. 14. For example, anotification message such as “Replacement of Living Room Illumination isNeeded Within Three Days.” may be output.

FIG. 15 shows an expected information notification screen correspondingto a current state of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 15, if aregistered IoT device is an electronic device, movement information ofthe user may be received from the electronic device or the electronicdevice may determine the user's movement information in itself. If theinformation received from the electronic device corresponds to aparticular state among a plurality of states included in a preset statediagram and notification information is configured in relation to thestate, then notification information regarding the expected state may bedisplayed on a screen of an electronic device 1500 as shown in FIG. 15.For example, a notification message such as “Use of Navigator for AboutThree Hours is Expected. Enter Power Saving Mode?” may be output. Inaddition, to make it easy for the user to make transition to the powersaving mode, a shortcut button 1510 may be provided. For example, theuser may easily make transition of a use mode of the electronic device1500 to the power saving mode by selecting a power saving modetransition button 1510.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram 1600 of an electronic device 1601 accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device1601 may include the entire electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2 or apart of the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2. The electronicdevice 1601 may include one or more application processors (APs) 1610, acommunication module 1620, a subscriber identification module (SIM)1624, a memory 1630, a sensor module 1640, an input device 1650, adisplay 1660, an interface 1670, an audio module 1680, a camera module1691, a power management module 1695, a battery 1696, an indicator 1697,and a motor 1698.

The AP 1610 controls multiple hardware or software components connectedto the AP 1610 by driving an operating system (OS) or an applicationprogram, and performs processing and operations with respect to variousdata. The processor 1610 may be implemented with, for example, a systemon chip (SoC). According to an embodiment, the server 1610 may furtherinclude a GPU and/or an image signal processor. The AP 1610 may includeat least some of the elements illustrated in FIG. 16 (e.g., the cellularmodule 1621). The processor 1610 loads a command or data received fromat least one of other elements (e.g., a non-volatile memory) into avolatile memory to process the command or data, and stores various datain the non-volatile memory.

The communication module 1620 may include, for example, the cellularmodule 1621, a WiFi module 1623, a Bluetooth (BT) module 1625, a GPSmodule 1627, a near field communication (NFC) module 1628, and a radiofrequency (RF) module 1629.

The cellular module 1621 may provide, for example, a voice call, a videocall, a text service, or an Internet service over a communicationnetwork. According to an embodiment, the cellular module 1621 identifiesand authenticates the electronic device 1601 in a communication networkby using the SIM (e.g., a SIM card) 1624. According to an embodiment,the cellular module 1621 performs at least some of functions that may beprovided by the AP 1610. According to an embodiment, the cellular module1621 may include a communication processor (CP).

Each of the WiFi module 1623, the BT module 1625, the GPS module 1627,and the NFC module 1628 may include a processor for processing datatransmitted and received by a corresponding module. According to someembodiment, at least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module1621, the WiFi module 1623, the BT module 1625, the GPS module 1627, andthe NFC module 1628 may be included in one integrated chip (IC) or ICpackage.

The RF module 1629 may, for example, transmit and receive acommunication signal (e.g., an RF signal). The RF module 1629 mayinclude a transceiver, a power amp module (PAM), a frequency filter, alow noise amplifier (LNA), or an antenna. According to anotherembodiment, at least one of the cellular module 1621, the WiFi module1623, the BT module 1625, the GPS module 1627, and the NFC module 1628may transmit and receive an RF signal through the separate RF module229.

The SIM card 1624 may, for example, include a card including an SIMand/or an embedded SIM, and may include unique identificationinformation (e.g., an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) orsubscriber information (e.g., an international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI)).

The memory 1630 (e.g., the memory 1630) may, for example, include aninternal memory 1632 and/or an external memory 1634. The internal memory1632 may, for example, include at least one of a volatile memory (e.g.,dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a non-volatile memory (e.g., one timeprogrammable read only memory (OTPROM), programmable ROM (PROM),erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable andprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), etc.), mask ROM, flash ROM, NAND flashmemory, NOR flash memory, etc.), and a solid state drive (SSD).

The external memory 1634 may further include flash drive, for example,compact flash (CF), secure digital (SD), micro-SD, mini-SD, extremeDigital (xD), a multi-media card (MMC), or a memory stick. The externalmemory 1634 may be functionally and/or physically connected with theelectronic device 1601 through various interfaces.

The sensor module 1640 measures physical quantity or senses an operationstate of the electronic device 1601 to convert the measured or sensedinformation into an electric signal. The sensor module 1640 may, forexample, include at least one of a gesture sensor 1640A, a gyro sensor1640B, a pressure sensor 1640C, a magnetic sensor 1640D, an accelerationsensor 1640E, a grip sensor 1640F, a proximity sensor 1640G, a colorsensor (e.g., RGB sensor) 1640H, a biometric sensor 16401, atemperature/humidity sensor 1640J, an illumination sensor 1640K, and aultraviolet (UV) sensor 1640M. Additionally or alternatively, the sensormodule 1640 may include an E-nose sensor (not shown), anelectromyography (EMG) sensor (not shown), an electroencephalogram (EEG)sensor (not shown), an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (not shown), aninfrared (IR) sensor, an iris sensor, and/or a fingerprint sensor. Thesensor module 1640 may further include a control circuit for controllingat least one sensor included therein. In some embodiment, the electronicdevice 1601 may further include a processor configured to control thesensor module 1640 as part of or separately from the AP 1610, to controlthe sensor module 1640 during a sleep state of the AP 1610.

The input device 1650 may include, for example, a touch panel 1652, a(digital) pen sensor 1654, a key 1656, or an ultrasonic input device1658. The touch panel 1652 may use at least one of a capacitive type, aresistive type, an IR type, or an ultrasonic type. The touch panel 1652may further include a control circuit. The touch panel 1652 may furtherinclude a tactile layer to provide tactile reaction to the user.

The (digital) pen sensor 1654 may include a recognition sheet which is apart of the touch panel or a separate recognition sheet. The key 1656may also include a physical button, an optical key, or a keypad. Theultrasonic input device 1658 senses sound waves through a microphone(e.g., the microphone 1688) of the electronic device 1601 using an inputmeans that generates an ultrasonic signal, thereby checking data.

The display (1660) may include a panel 1662, a hologram device 1664, ora projector 1666. The panel 1662 may be implemented to be flexible,transparent, or wearable. The panel 1662 may be configured with thetouch panel 1652 in one module. The hologram device 1664 shows astereoscopic image in the air by using interference of light. Theprojector 1666 displays an image through projection of light onto ascreen. The screen may be positioned inside or outside the electronicdevice 1601. According to an embodiment, the display 1660 may furtherinclude a control circuit for controlling the panel 1662, the hologramdevice 1664, or the projector 1666.

According to an embodiment, the interface 1670 may include an HDMI 1672,a USB 1674, an optical interface 1676, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 1678.Additionally or alternatively, the interface 1670 may include, forexample, an MHL interface, an SD card/MMC interface, or an IrDA standardinterface.

The audio module 1680 bi-directionally converts sound and an electricsignal. The audio module 1680 processes sound information input oroutput through the speaker 1682, the receiver 1684, the earphone 1686,or the microphone 1688.

The camera module 1691 is a device capable of capturing a still image ora moving image, and according to an embodiment, may include one or moreimage sensors (e.g., a front sensor or a rear sensor), a lens, an imagesignal processor (ISP), or a flash (e.g., an LED, a xenon lamp, etc.).

The power management module 1695 manages power of the electronic device1601. According to an embodiment, the power management module 1695 mayinclude a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger IC, or abattery fuel gauge. The PMIC may have a wired and/or wireless chargingscheme. The wireless charging scheme includes a magnetic-resonance type,a magnetic induction type, and an electromagnetic type, and for wirelesscharging, an additional circuit, for example, a coil loop, a resonancecircuit, or a rectifier may be further included. The battery gaugemeasures the remaining capacity of the battery 1696 or the voltage,current, or temperature of the battery 1696 during charging. The battery1696 may include a rechargeable battery or a solar battery.

The indicator 1697 displays a particular state, for example, a bootingstate, a message state, or a charging state, of the electronic device1601 or a part thereof (e.g., the AP 1610). The motor 1698 converts anelectric signal into mechanical vibration or generates vibration or ahaptic effect. Although not shown, the electronic device 1601 mayinclude a processing device (e.g., a GPU) for supporting a mobile TV.The processing device for supporting the mobile TV processes media dataaccording to, a standard such as digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB),digital video broadcasting (DVB), or mediaFlo™.

Each of the foregoing elements of the electronic device may beconfigured with one or more components, names of which may vary with atype of the electronic device. In various embodiments, the electronicdevice may include at least one of the foregoing elements, some of whichmay be omitted or to which other elements may be added. In addition,some of the elements of the electronic device according to variousembodiments may be integrated into one entity to perform functions ofthe corresponding elements in the same manner as before they areintegrated.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram 1700 of a programming module 1710 accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure. According to anembodiment, the programming module 1710 may include an OS forcontrolling resources associated with an electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device) and/or various applications (e.g., an applicationprogram) executed on the OS. The OS may include Android, iOS, Windows,Symbian, Tizen, or Bada.

The programming module 1710 may include, for example, a kernel 1720,middleware 1730, an API 1760, and/or an application 1770. At least apart of the programming module 1710 may be preloaded on an electronicdevice or may be downloaded from a server.

The kernel 1720 may include a system resource manager 1721 or a devicedriver 1723. The system resource manager 1721 may perform control,allocation, retrieval of system resources, and so forth. According to anembodiment, the system resource manager 1721 may include a processmanagement unit, a memory management unit, a file system managementunit, or the like. The device driver 1723 may include, for example, adisplay driver, a camera driver, a Bluetooth driver, a shared memorydriver, a USB driver, a keypad driver, a WiFi driver, an audio driver,or an inter-process communication (IPC) driver.

The middleware 1730 may provide functions that the application 1770commonly requires or provide various functions to the application 1770through the API 1760 to allow the application 1770 to efficiently use alimited system resource in the electronic device. According to anembodiment, the middleware 1730 may include at least one of a runtimelibrary 1735, an application manager 1741, a window manager 1742, amultimedia manager 1743, a resource manager 1744, a power manager 1745,a database manager 1746, a package manager 1747, a connectivity manager1748, a notification manager 1749, a location manager 1750, a graphicmanager 1751, and a security manager 1752.

The runtime library 1735 may include a library module that a compileruses to add a new function through a programming language while theapplication 1770 is executed. The runtime library 1735 performsfunctions relating to input/output management, memory management, or anarithmetic function.

The application manager 1741 manages a life cycle of at least oneapplication, for example, among the applications 1770. The windowmanager 1742 manages a GUI resource used in a screen. The multimediamanager 1743 recognizes a format necessary for playing various mediafiles and performs encoding or decoding on a media file by using a codecappropriate for a corresponding format. The resource manager 1744manages a resource such as a source code, a memory, or a storage spaceof at least one application among the applications 1770.

The power manager 1745 manages a battery or power, for example, inoperation with a basic input/output system (BIOS) and provides powerinformation necessary for an operation of the electronic device. Thedatabase manager 1746 generates, searches or changes a database used forat least one application among the applications 1770. The packagemanager 1747 manages the installation or update of an applicationdistributed in a package file format.

The connectivity manager 1748 manages a wireless connection such as aWiFi or Bluetooth connection. The notification manager 1749 displays ornotifies events such as arrival messages, appointments, and proximityalerts in a manner that is not disruptive to a user. The locationmanager 1750 manages location information of the electronic device. Thegraphic manager 1751 manages a graphic effect to be provided to the useror a user interface relating thereto. The security manager 1752 providesa general security function necessary for system security, userauthentication, etc. According to an embodiment, if the electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device of FIG. 8) has a call function, themiddleware 1730 may further include a telephony manager for managing avoice or video call function of the electronic device.

The middleware 1730 may include a middleware module forming acombination of various functions of the above-mentioned elements. Themiddleware 1730 may provide modules specified according to types of anOS so as to provide distinctive functions. Additionally, the middleware1730 may delete some of existing elements or add new elementsdynamically.

The API 1760 may be provided as a set of API programming functions witha different configuration according to the OS. For example, in the caseof Android or iOS, for example, one API set may be provided by eachplatform, and in the case of Tizen, two or more API sets may beprovided.

The application 1770 may include one or more applications capable ofproviding a function, for example, a home application 1771, a dialerapplication 1772, a short messaging service/multimedia messaging service(SMS/MMS) application 1773, an instant message (IM) application 1774, abrowser application 1775, a camera application 1776, an alarmapplication 1777, a contact application 1778, a voice dial application1779, an e-mail application 1780, a calendar application 1781, a mediaplayer application 1782, an album application 1783, a clock application1784, a health care application (e.g., an application for measuring anexercise amount, a blood sugar, etc.), or an environment informationproviding application (e.g., an application for providing air pressure,humidity, temperature information, etc.).

According to an embodiment, the application 1770 may include anapplication (hereinafter, an “information exchange application” forconvenience) supporting information exchange between the electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device of FIG. 8) and an externalelectronic device. The information exchange application may include, forexample, a notification relay application for transferring specificinformation to the external electronic device or a device managementapplication for managing the external electronic device.

For example, the notification relay application may include a functionfor transferring notification information generated in anotherapplication (e.g., an SMS/MMS application, an e-mail application, ahealth care application, or an environment information application) ofthe electronic device to an external electronic device. The notificationrelay application may receive notification information from an externalelectronic device to provide the same to a user. The device managementapplication may manage (e.g., install, remove, or update) at least onefunction (e.g., turn on/turn off of an external electronic device itself(or a part thereof) or control of brightness (or resolution) of adisplay) of an external device communicating with the electronic device,a service (e.g., a call service or a message service) provided by anapplication operating on the external electronic device or provided bythe external electronic device.

According to an embodiment, the application 1770 may include anapplication (e.g., a health care application) set on the basis of anattribute (e.g., a mobile medical appliance as a type of the electronicdevice) of the external electronic device. According to an embodiment,the application 1770 may include an application received from theexternal electronic device. According to an embodiment, the application1770 may include a preloaded application or a third party applicationthat may be downloaded from the server. Names of elements of theprogramming module 1710 according to the illustrated embodiment may varydepending on a type of an OS.

According to various embodiments, at least a part of the programmingmodule 1710 may be implemented by software, firmware, hardware, or acombination of at least two of them. The at least a part of theprogramming module 1710 may be implemented (e.g., executed) by aprocessor (e.g., the AP 1610). The at least a part of the programmingmodule 1710 may include, for example, modules, programs, routines, setsof instructions, or processes for performing one or more functions.

A term “module” used herein may mean, for example, a unit including oneof or a combination of two or more of hardware, software, and firmware.The “module” or “functional unit” may be interchangeably used with aunit, a logic, a logical block, a component, or a circuit. The “module”or “functional unit” may be a minimum unit or a portion of an integratedcomponent. The “module” may be a minimum unit or a portion thereofperforming one or more functions. The “module” or “functional unit” maybe implemented mechanically or electronically. For example, the “module”or “functional unit” may include at least one of an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) chip, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),and a programmable-logic device performing certain operations alreadyknown or to be developed.

At least a part of an apparatus (e.g., modules or functions thereof) ora method (e.g., operations) according to various embodiments may beimplemented with a command stored in a computer-readable storage mediumin the form of a programming module. When the instructions are executedby one or more processors (for example, the controller 520), the one ormore processors may perform functions corresponding to the instructions.The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, a memoryincluded in the storage 530.

The computer readable recording medium includes hard disk, floppy disk,or magnetic media (e.g., a magnetic tape, optical media (e.g., compactdisc read only memory (CD-ROM) or digital versatile disc (DVD),magneto-optical media (e.g., floptical disk), a hardware device (e.g.,ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc.), and so forth. Further, the programinstructions include a machine language code created by a complier and ahigh-level language code executable by a computer using an interpreter.The foregoing hardware device may be configured to be operated as atleast one software module to perform an operation of the presentdisclosure, or vice versa.

Modules or programming modules according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include one or more of the foregoing elements,have some of the foregoing elements omitted, or further includeadditional other elements. Operations performed by the modules, theprogramming modules or other elements according to various embodimentsmay be executed in a sequential, parallel, repetitive or heuristicmanner. Also, some of the operations may be executed in different orderor omitted, or may have additional different operations.

According to various embodiments, a storage medium has stored thereininstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the at least one processor to perform at least oneoperations including receiving at least one information of at least onefirst electronic device from the at least one first electronic device,determining, from the received information, a current state among aplurality of states that are preset for the first electronic device, andtransmitting state expectation information of the first electronicdevice to a second electronic device if the determined current statesatisfies a preset notification condition on a state diagram in whichrelationships between the plurality of states are set.

According to various embodiments, a storage medium has stored thereininstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the at least one processor to perform at least oneoperations including receiving at least one information of at least onefirst electronic device from the at least one first electronic device,determining, from the received information, a current state among aplurality of states preset for the first electronic device, andoutputting state expectation information of the first electronic deviceif the determined current state satisfies a preset notificationcondition on a state diagram in which relationships between theplurality of states are set.

The embodiments disclosed in the present specification and drawings havebeen provided to easily describe the present disclosure and to helpunderstanding of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limitthe scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be construedthat the scope of various embodiments of the present disclosure includesany change or other various embodiments based on the technical spirit ofthe present disclosure as well as the embodiments described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server for providing information of anelectronic device, the server comprising: a communication circuitry; aprocessor configured to: receive, through the communication circuitry,information of a first electronic device, from the first electronicdevice; identify a current state of the first electronic device, basedon the received information; identify whether the identified currentstate corresponds to a first state in which a second state is expected;and based on identifying that the identified current state correspondsto the first state, transmit, through the communication circuitry, amessage to a second electronic device, the message comprising aprevention information which indicates information for preventing thefirst electronic device from entering the second state.
 2. The server ofclaim 1, wherein the second state corresponds to at least one of amalfunction state or an abnormal state of the first electronic device.3. The server of claim 1, wherein the first information comprisesestimated time information at which the second state is expected.
 4. Theserver of claim 1, wherein the message comprises information related tothe first state.
 5. The server of claim 1, wherein the message comprisesinformation related to the second state.
 6. The server of claim 1,wherein the information related to second state comprises at least oneof information related to battery discharging, information related tosound output, information related to light out, information related to anavigator, and information related to transition to a power saving mode.7. The server of claim 1, the processor further configured to: identifywhether the identified current state corresponds to the first statebased on analyzing a life cycle corresponding to a use pattern of a userfrom the information received from the first electronic device.
 8. Theserver of claim 1, wherein the information of the first electronicdevice corresponds to information obtained by at least one sensorincluded in the first electronic device.
 9. A method for providinginformation of an electronic device at a server, the method comprising:receiving, information of a first electronic device, from the firstelectronic device; identifying a current state of the first electronicdevice, based on the received information; identifying whether theidentified current state corresponds to a first state in which a secondstate is expected; and based on identifying that the identified currentstate corresponds to the first state, transmitting a message to a secondelectronic device, the message comprising a prevention information whichindicates information for preventing the first electronic device fromentering the second state.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the secondstate corresponds to at least one of a malfunction state or an abnormalstate of the first electronic device.
 11. The method of claim 9, whereinthe first information comprises estimated time information at which thesecond state is expected.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the messagecomprises information related to the first state.
 13. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the message comprises information related to the secondstate.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the information related tosecond state comprises at least one of information related to batterydischarging, information related to sound output, information related tolight out, information related to a navigator, and information relatedto transition to a power saving mode.
 15. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: identifying whether the identified current state correspondsto the first state based on analyzing a life cycle corresponding to ause pattern of a user from the information received from the firstelectronic device.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the information ofthe first electronic device corresponds to information obtained by atleast one sensor included in the first electronic device.